If you've never broken anything on a gun, you haven't shot it enough. I've had disabling breakages (having to do with springs) long before 35,000 rounds. A SIG 1911 I had circa 2007 broke its extractor in less than 300.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but hollowpoints expand on impact.

Open question for anybody. Is there any authoritative info out there regarding use of steel case ammo in pistols? To be specific, premature wear on components the case comes in contact with. Extractors, for example.

I've neither used steel case not have I read anything on it. Neither do I intend to. If someone can fill in my ignorance on the matter, please post.

While I'm suspicious, like the OP, I can't even hypothesize if there is any connection.

First, the shiny area could just be steel polishing steel, as opposed to brass polishing steel. Second, the failure occurred 15,000 rounds past the recommended extractor duty cycle. Not bad.

The 35,000 + round count with no abnormal failures is pretty impressive. Especially given extensive use in training courses, likely with high daily round counts. Pistols tend to heat up and get dirty under those conditions, which can cause some malfunctions not experienced in normal use.

Thanks for posting. More info for the collective P320 database.

______________________An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything about nothing. --Nicholas Murray Butler

Well as a dedicated steel ammo cheapskate I am curious of this answer as well. I spread my Tula love over multiple guns so I can't say I have ever broken one using steel.

Here is my follow on question. Breaking the extractor on the 320 is no big deal, buy a new one go another 35k rounds right? But, looking at the FCU the ejector is part of the steel U beam that is part of the "firearm". If it were to break you can't replace it short of buying an entire new gun. I know Glock has used different ejectors on their different gens and they must break on occasion. Do ejectors break much?

Originally posted by Nipper:Open question for anybody. Is there any authoritative info out there regarding use of steel case ammo in pistols? To be specific, premature wear on components the case comes in contact with. Extractors, for example.

I've neither used steel case not have I read anything on it. Neither do I intend to. If someone can fill in my ignorance on the matter, please post.

While I'm suspicious, like the OP, I can't even hypothesize if there is any connection.

First, the shiny area could just be steel polishing steel, as opposed to brass polishing steel. Second, the failure occurred 15,000 rounds past the recommended extractor duty cycle. Not bad.

The 35,000 + round count with no abnormal failures is pretty impressive. Especially given extensive use in training courses, likely with high daily round counts. Pistols tend to heat up and get dirty under those conditions, which can cause some malfunctions not experienced in normal use.

Originally posted by Nipper:Is there any authoritative info out there regarding use of steel case ammo in pistols?

I have never seen the results of any meaningful tests of steel cased ammunition in pistols, and the common rejoinder when concerns are expressed is, “The steel in cases is softer than the steel in extractors.” That’s probably true, but consider this: the brass used in cartridge cases is also softer than the steel used in extractors and other components. Despite the fact that the brass is softer than any steel, the SIG parts maintenance schedule still calls for replacing extractors in the P320 and Classic-line pistols after 20,000 rounds. That indicates to me that it’s known that the brass causes wear, and if that’s true I cannot but believe that any sort of steel will cause wear more quickly than brass.

And the other example I like to cite is that razor steel is harder than leather, but people still use strops to touch up their shaving instruments. That practice means that either the leather causes wear on the steel or a lot of people have deluded themselves for a long time.